Mama's Worm Composting

My Very Own Gusanito Worm Farm

A few weeks ago I decided that if I was going to sell the Gusanito Worm Farm, I was going to need to have one for myself as well to make my own worm compost, and to also be able to answer reader questions with some sort of personal experience. When the Gusanito Worm Farm arrived about 2 weeks ago, I simply followed the instructions included with the unit, and ended up dumping about 2.5 pounds of red worms into the system. Within a few hours I already started to see some migration upwards. Now I've got 4 of the 5 trays set up into the system with worms on every level. I have put in mostly food scraps with a rare paper napkin or egg carton. 

Some things I've noticed about the Gusanito Worm Farm

It's very moist inside. This isn't necessarily a big problem, as I know that the worms are happy in there with all that moist air, but it does make for the occasional escapee. My husband found a worm in the sink the other morning, though he later told me that he had experienced a bonding moment with the little creature (so I don't see this particular escape as a bad thing). In the pictures you can see the white sheets at the top and bottom of the system; this is for use for the first several days to help keep the worms where they're supposed to be, and it works. If you have problems with escaping worms, try using this sheet for a day or two until the little adventurers settle down.

It's big. Disagreements have surfaced between my hubby and I about the placement of the bin, but so far I have won out and it remains next to our sink. However, if it's too big for you it could easily go into a pantry, basement, garage or outside. Keep a little bucket next to your sink and go dump it out as it fills. 

It doesn't smell! Yay! They are munching the food so fast that no yuck escapes.

It's easy to show the kiddos the worms. Now it's a favorite party trick to just hop over to the kitchen counter and pull out a worm for each kid who happens to be over playing at our house to hold. 

So, for making worm compost, the Gusanito system gets a thumbs up from us. So far so good! If you have comments of your own or questions about this system, please email me. 

Good worming!

Buy Can-O-Worms HERE!

Where to buy Red Wigglers? HERE

Where to buy European Nightcrawlers? HERE

Garbage Eaten Update

Making worm compost has a real impact on protecting our environment, both because it drastically reduces the amount of waste going to landfills and because worm castings greatly improve soil quality for future farming. These days close to 30% of the garbage in landfills is food waste. Worm composting, as weird as it is (let's face it), is going to be one of the many small things that we do to turn our environment around. Check out my pal Jonathan Bloom's blog on Wasted Food.

To drive the point home about the impact that using worms for composting can have, I am going to start keeping track of all the garbage that my worms and worms I've sold have eaten to date. These numbers will reflect the potential garbage consumed as being equivalent to a worm eating half of its body weight each day. This only reflects the initial purchase and not any offspring, which of course can up the numbers even more. 

Mama's Worms will eat (drum roll, please):

3.81 tons of garbage in 2009

Good worming!

Buy Can-O-Worms HERE!

Where to buy Red Wigglers? HERE

Where to buy European Nightcrawlers? HERE

Reader Question: What is "Worm Tea"?

What is "Worm Tea"?

First and foremost, DON'T DRINK IT! Don't drink anything that comes out of your worm bin! :-)

I used to think that worm tea was the liquid that comes out of the bottom of a moist worm compost bin. While some do call that worm tea, it is in fact worm leachate, and it can be dangerous for your plants AND an indication of an overly-moist worm bin. The reason that leachate can be dangerous is because it is the runoff from still-composting scraps, and it can be unpredictable in its makeup. The best thing to do with leachate is to drain it and then pour it right back into your worm bin. It will likely moisten the topmost dry layers and not come out immediately at the bottom again. A little leachate at the bottom is fine, but if you're really draining a lot, cut back on your watering a little bit. 

To make "real" worm tea, which is a liquid extraction of the minerals and elements found in worm castings, do the following:

Harvest some castings by whatever means you desire (I was just going to point you to a page on this site to tell you how to do that... until I realized there wasn't one. Google it for now and check back here for tips and hints).

To read about using worm tea as insect control, check out this recipe here. It's a little convoluted, but a fascinating read nonetheless. 

Or you can simply soak 1 cup of castings and 1T molasses in 2 gallons of warm water for 24-48 hours and then water or spray with the tea as you desire (drain it first with a fine mesh sieve). You can also use cheese cloth (or similar) to make a tea bag for this purpose. This is a way to use your worm compost, and the resulting tea as a mild insecticide and fertilizer (without a complicated brewing/spraying process). 

Good worming!

Buy Can-O-Worms HERE!

Where to buy Red Wigglers? HERE

Where to buy European Nightcrawlers? HERE

How to Harvest Worms... According to My Husband

My brilliant husband told me tonight that the best way to harvest worms is to stick a fork into the bin and spin it around until the worms all cling to it like spaghetti. Sigh...

Buy Can-O-Worms HERE!

Where to buy Red Wigglers? HERE

Where to buy European Nightcrawlers? HERE

Reader Question: Worms for Garden Aeration

I am looking for some down home regular earth worms to add to my garden. Do you have any? If not do you know where I can get them? All I seem to find is composting worms; are they the same?

All types of worms will help to aerate your soil, but worms need food, and regular dirt is not food. You are best off adding worms to the areas of your garden that have a nice layer of mulch (horse or cow manure would be great) so that they have a food supply. I recommend watering your garden, adding a 1-2" layer of manure, and then sprinkling your worms around. They will quickly burrow down if you do this during the day. After they have burrowed down (give them a couple of hours at least) you may water your garden from then on as usual. Then they will eat the bacteria and decaying matter in the mulch and produce castings right there in your soil.  For best results, don't put too many worms in any one spot in your garden so that the worms are not competing too much for food. 

Of course, only use red worms or european nightcrawlers to make worm compost. Other types of worms will not eat enough of the compost waste and will die. 

Good worming!

Buy Can-O-Worms HERE!

Where to buy Red Wigglers? HERE

Where to buy European Nightcrawlers? HERE

Reader Question: Escaping Worms

I got this question from a reader today, so I thought I would answer it on the blog. If you have any questions, always feel free to email me HERE.

I recently ordered worms to make worm compost and just put them into their bin yesterday. I thought everything was ok and had let the bin sit for a few days before adding the worms. Today, though, when I looked inside a lot of my worms were climbing up the sides of the bin. Am I doing something wrong? I'm worried that they're trying to get out for a reason. Why don't they want to stay in?

There are a few different reasons why your worms may be trying to escape their bin. I have experienced the following:

Not enough light up top to keep the worms in

Not a clear separation between bedding/food and the outside world

Noxious gases threatening the worms

Excessive heat in the bin

Not enough light up top to keep the worms in

When you are starting up a new bin it is very common for worms to try to escape, simply because they are a little lost. While they get used to their new surroundings and food source, try leaving a light on over the bin (not too close so you don't heat it up). Leave the lid off if you can while they figure this out.  Once they dig down in there and get established, they probably won't be so keen to roam away from the plentiful food source of your kitchen scraps!

Not a clear separation between bedding/food and the outside world

I have been having a problem lately at the warehouse with escaping worms. In many bins I will open up the lids and find little piles of worms all along the top edges of the bin. These bins are doing great otherwise, no anaerobic pockets, lots of food and water, so I was a little perplexed at first. Then I realized that since I'm now using closed bins (to keep out flies and rodents) there are more evaporated droplets accumulating along the sides and underside of the bins. The worms aren't unhappy, seemingly, but they're coming out of their bedding because they're attracted to the water (think of a wet sidewalk crawling with worms after a rain). 

Solution? A nice thick layer (4" or so) of dry bedding (or in my case manure) at the top. Once they hit the dry stuff on their way up, they turn around and head back down. I also get less water along the sides of the bin this way. 

Noxious gases threatening the worms

It is possible that you have anaerobic conditions developing. Anaerobic means there isn't enough oxygen circulating in your compost scraps, and the scraps don't break down properly, producing something called "anaerobic sludge". It has an unmistakable smell that will linger on your nostrils for hours (blech!), or in my case may scar you for life! :-)  If you dig down into your bedding and smell something nasty, that may be your problem. If you have a closed bin (ie: with a lid), noxious gases can accumulate in the bin and drive the worms to flee. Here's how to fix it.

1. Open the lid of your bin and leave it off for a day or two if you can.

2. Stir the contents of your bin and add a lot of dry bedding (shredded paper or cardboard works great) to both provide air flow and soak up any excess water. Anaerobic conditions and too much water usually go hand in hand.

3. Consider drilling extra holes into the side of your bin to provide more air flow (don't do this if you have an expensive setup, just if you've made your own bin).

4. Check on your bin daily until the problem resolves. Don't add any new scraps until the smell starts to disappear. 

If you have an open system already and are having this problem, it's probably because you've been overwatering. Follow steps 2-4.

Excessive heat in the bin

Cooked worms are something you DON'T want, believe me! When I first started I messed up royally and got cooked worms AND anaerobic sludge and it is a smell I will never forget. If your bin is in direct sunlight, you are going to have problems, even if it's just for a couple of hours a day. A plastic bin in the sun will trap heat and kill worms very quickly. Worms can survive in high temperatures if they're in the shade, but 75 degrees in the sun will kill them. 

ALWAYS KEEP YOUR WORM BIN OUT OF THE SUN!!!

If you have a compost pile without plastic sides, that's a different story, so you only really need to worry about this problem with plastic systems. 

There's a bit of a learning curve with worms and making worm compost, but hopefully this site can help you learn from my mistakes instead of your own. 

Good Worming!

Buy Can-O-Worms HERE!

Where to buy Red Wigglers? HERE

Where to buy European Nightcrawlers? HERE

Are You Ready To Buy Worms?

If you're considering making your own worm compost, you might be wondering why you have to buy worms; can't you just pick them up on the sidewalk after a light rain? Unfortunately, no. Chances are if you harvest worms from your yard or the sidewalk that they won't be the most effective breed for making worm compost. Yes, all worms eat and create worm castings, but not all worms are the most effective at turning human garbage into fertilizer in a timely manner. Not to mention that you need hundreds of worms to start an effective worm bin.

Two breeds are known in the "worming industry" for their effectiveness at making worm compost quickly; Eisenia fetida (Red Worms) and Eisenia hortensis (European Nightcrawlers). I breed Eisenia fetida exclusively, mostly because I want to concentrate on one breed before I branch out into others. Only recently have European Nightcrawlers been used widely for composting, and many believe that red worms are still the worm of choice for creating worm compost, so that's what I'm starting with. Red worms can eat between 50-100% of their body weight in food scraps every day, so they are very effective for managing your household's food waste outgo. 

When you wrap your head around the fact that you'll be inviting worms into your house and you've found a worm bin, stop back here to buy worms. Why buy worms from me? I'm honest, I have fair prices, and I love my worms. I call my worms "my boys" and have been known to both talk soothingly and snap at them (as in the case of a "great worm escape", which happens occasionally). They're like thousands of red, slimy, wiggly children. 

Good worming!

Buy Can-O-Worms HERE!

Where to buy Red Wigglers? HERE

Where to buy European Nightcrawlers? HERE